Setting the Stage for 2011 Space Symposium at UH

An entry in this year’s Humans in Space Symposium Youth Art Competition

The week of April 11 will see scores of space industry personnel converge on Houston at the 18th International Academy of Astronautics Humans in Space Symposium, hosted by the University of Houston and NASA. But, before the research presentations and anniversary commemorations, UH will leave its stamp on the opening ceremonies.

Students from the UH School of Theatre and Dance will join scenic supervisor Tina Newhauser to coordinate and stage an elaborate opening ceremony that will include hundreds of children’s art drawings, writings and original orchestral scores.

The Humans in Space Symposium Youth Art Competition asked young people from around the world to think about the future of human space flight. The response to the call for artwork was enormous: 550 art entries (painting, sculpture, poetry, prose and original musical scores) were received from 22 countries, distributed across five continents. Many will be incorporated into the event’s opening ceremonies, coordinated by Newhauser.

CP: How did the School of Theatre become involved in this space symposium?

TN: The symposium coordinators contacted our director, Steve Wallace, for assistance on the production side of things. He, in turn, recommended me and our adjunct, Rachel Bush, who teaches stage management. My expertise is corporate and event stage managing, so it just made sense to be a part of this. I’ll be bringing two students who are focusing on stage management to work with me.

CP: What is involved in staging an event like this?

TN: I make sure everything they want to happen, in the order that it has to happen, is executed. The opening ceremony has lots of elements. I’ll be putting together the show flow (the minute-by-minute breakdown of the event). It starts with doors opening, walk-in music rolls, all the video and graphics, announcements and voiceovers. For the event itself, I “call the cues.” There will be groups of people behind the scenes who are executing video playback, switching, dealing with cameras, graphics and lighting. We’ll also have someone running the sound deck and miking up the clients. There will be a video montage running simultaneously with an orchestra playing. So, as you can see, there are numerous technical elements all coming together, and it’s my job to keep it all running smoothly.

CP: How valuable will this experience be to the students?

TN: This is incredibly valuable. I’m bringing two senior stage management students with me, Crystal Smith and Rolo Bonilla. They will be a part of the process beginning Sunday afternoon. When I was a student at Kent State University in the 1980s, I was never exposed to event or corporate stage managing. I didn’t even know it existed. It was 15 years until I was brought into the world of event stage managing. Having this experience as a student opens your eyes to the other opportunities out there for theater technicians. One of the major goals of our director, Steve Wallace, is to give our students unique opportunities not found at other universities. He has brought in faculty and staff with extensive professional experience who can offer our theater students training not found at other universities.

CP: How is this different from the staging they may have done in plays?

TN: At this point, our students have only worked in theater with actors, a scripted play or musical. They haven’t experienced how it works in the corporate world. It’s much faster. Working for the stage, you get four weeks of rehearsal, a week of tech and then you have a four-week run. When you get to this (corporate event) it’s like jumping headfirst into tech week, and then your first dress rehearsal is your opening and closing night all in one. It’s a one week, slam-bam-get it done experience; depending upon the size of the event it can be more intense, but it’s always just as exciting.

CP: What would you like students and symposium participants to take away from this opening ceremony?

TN: I’d like them to walk away in amazement because of the talent of our young students from around the world who submitted items to the student art competition. Their art work and compositions are part of the opening ceremonies and are so impressive. And I want them to be wowed. As a stage manager I want it to be flawless technically so that they can experience a “slick presentation.” I hope the students walk away with knowledge of the possibilities that are out there for them. There are so many more opportunities out there for stage managers and technicians than just working in theater proper. I’ve spent close to 25 years working in theater, on Broadway and off, and it’s a great career, but we’re also doing everything in our power to expose them to more. They will get a great education here at UH, and they can use it in multiple facets.

CP: Anything else you’d like to add?

TN: Only that with this event, there’s a super cool factor! You get to see astronauts and world-renowned scientists coming together from all over the globe. Our students will get to experience something that is extremely unique.